Cooking vegetarian with kids, one day at a time

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My children are very different animals. Everett, the 2-year old early riser, consumes most of his calories between the hours of 5:00am and 8:00am. The rest of the day he loves irrational hard labor. Like picking up chairs, pushing tables, and gathering armfuls of heavy toy supplies. He would volunteer for decathlon training if he could. He’s disciplined, dedicated, and mild-tempered, and demands to”GOOOOOOOO!” pretty much all the time, which is frustrating at 6:00am when the rest of the house is still asleep and school isn’t even open yet. Oddly, he also prefers a largely vegan diet. He eats fruit, nuts, more fruit, pasta, fruit again, and sometimes beans.

Asher, the 4-year old late riser, consumes most of his calories between the hours of 5:00pm – 8:00pm. He happily sits on the couch reading Lego manuals all day and relatively sedentary. But where Asher lacks in physical interest, he is very cerebral and a true master negotiator. I lose every time. In fact he’s been speaking full sentences since he was 1 and we had to use words to explain to him HOW TO WALK. Yup. Unlike Everett, Asher loves second dinner, and is usually the last kid up from the table at birthday parties. But Legos is Asher’s one true passion and ALL he thinks about. He has amassed a collection large enough to make any grown nerd jealous.

Anyway, what I’m saying is one child is always happy while the other one is always crying. I know this is the universal story of having two kids. So my sanity break is to escape to the kitchen and cook up something wonderful. This week it was Peanut Udon Lettuce Wraps.

Mix peanut sauce ingredients until smooth and creamy. Set aside. Boil udon noodles 5 minutes. Remove and rinse under cool water in colander to immediately cool. Combine peanut sauce with noodles thoroughly. Fold in the peppers, cilantro and green onions. Serve in one butter leaf as a tasty lettuce wrap! Or, chop lettuce with ranch dressing and hand to 4-year old as seen below.